An anonymous tip last month reportedly led to the seizure of more than 20 ounces of cocaine, 12 ounces of marijuana, various prescription pills, ecstasy, five firearms and more than $30,000 in west Savannah.

After learning of the tip during their monthly Chatham-Savannah Counter Narcotics Team briefing on Friday, Chatham County Commissioners praised the citizen’s contribution to public safety.

Now some of the commissioners are looking for the city of Savannah to make its own contribution to the agency — in the form of money.

The fact that Chatham fully funds the drug squad has become a common topic for some commissioners. Commissioners Lori Brady, Dean Kicklighter, Yusuf Shabazz and Helen Stone have all expressed concerns regarding the agency’s costs — amounting to about $4.4 million this year — because a majority of the drug-related arrests occur within Savannah’s boundaries.

According to the most recent report issued, agents have spent 5,558 hours working within the city of Savannah through March this year, while the second highest amount of time was worked was in Garden City, where agents logged 546 hours.

Considering the disproportionate share of activity in Savannah, the county should consider getting Savannah to help cover the tab, Brady said.

“I think it is a conversation we need to have,” she said.

Kicklighter said he is concerned about the costs also, especially considering the budget challenges ahead. In addition, Chatham recently received a share of local option sales tax funds that does not fairly compensate the county for the services it provides, Kicklighter said.

Commissioner Tony Center said the sales-tax negotiations have led him and other commissioners to reevaluate all the countywide services the county provides.

Although he has not concluded Savannah should be chipping in for the narcotics team, he is taking a closer look at all intergovernmental agreements to make sure the county is getting its fair share, Center said.

County Manager Russ Abolt has defended the arrangement, stating the drug agency was created in 1994 in response to what was previously a fragmented drug fighting effort.

The countywide agency, consisting of officers loaned from other jurisdictions, was created to centralize the organization, improve communications and recognize that narcotics distribution is not confined within municipal boundaries, Abolt said.

“Crime may be done in one jurisdiction, but the source may be in others,” Abolt said.

Abolt said he does not agree that the cities should share in the cost of the agency. Residents are already contributing to the costs through the county-wide property taxes, he said.

The issue stems back to previous discussions in years past between the city and council officials regarding whether the merged Savannah-Chatham police department should have more control over the narcotics team.

Chairman Al Scott said he prefers the drug squad retain its independence from the police department.

If the city is asked to start contributing funding — in addition to the property taxes residents already pay — city officials may obtain more influence over its operation, Scott said.

“Then you may lose the ability to work as well as you do with the other departments and agencies,” he said.

Both the city and county agreed that the appropriate way to fund this cost center is through the county’s maintenance and operations budget, which is paid for by taxpayers countywide — the majority of whom are city of Savannah residents, said city spokesman Bret Bell.

Unfortunately, the fact that city residents are county residents tends to get lost in these discussions, Bell said.

Since the narcotics team primarily targets high-level drug operations, Bell said the city intends to start funding a Savannah-Chatham police drug unit this year that will target street-level operations.